Daraz Group, an e-commerce subsidiary of Alibaba Group, will be reducing its workforce by 11 per cent in response to the challenging market conditions.

The CEO, Bjarke Mikkelsen, noted the adverse impact of a war in Europe, significant supply chain disruptions, rising inflation, heightened taxes, and the elimination of crucial government subsidies on the company’s operations, which are in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

Daraz, which was founded in Pakistan in 2012 and acquired by Alibaba in 2018, is the largest e-commerce platform in Pakistan and serves over 100,000 SMEs in the country.

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According to Ehsan Saya, Managing Director of Daraz in the country, Pakistan remains the company’s largest market with the largest number of employees across its markets.

He adds, “almost one-third of the staff in Pakistan is from regional teams which work with teams in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Singapore, and China.”

Ehsan Saya confirmed to Reuters that the 11 per cent reduction in the workforce of Daraz Group will also result in an equivalent cut in its workforce in Pakistan. The group did not provide further details regarding the specific number of employees affected and further details on the restructuring.

In a letter, CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen stated that Daraz has been able to grow its active shopper base from three million in 2018 to over 15 million currently, with an average order growth of nearly 100 per cent until last year. The company reported having access to 500 million customers in 2021 and a workforce of 10,000 employees. In the past two years, Daraz has invested $100 million in Pakistan and Bangladesh.